By Waveney Ann Moore, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
ST. PETERSBURG — The NAACP St. Petersburg branch elected a preacher as its new president Monday evening.
The Rev. Manuel Sykes' victory came less than two weeks after the election for president and officers was abruptly suspended by the NAACP national office for "numerous problems." Complaints included a membership list in disarray and sloppy record keeping.
Shortly after the results were announced Monday night, Sykes, 53, pastor of Bethel Community Baptist Church, spoke of his plans for the organization. He wants to recruit new members, address joblessness and "deal with the root causes of crime and poverty'' in the community, he said.
He also spoke about empowering "the people to make a real impact on future elections.''
"We can't afford not to be heard on issues that affect particularly minorities,'' he said.
He wants to put the controversial membership roster in order. That the national body decided to reschedule the voting so soon without addressing the issue riled some local members.
Outgoing St. Petersburg NAACP president Ray Tampa, who was running for the office of first vice president, pulled out of the race.
"I felt there should have been proper attention given to the reasons that the suspension was rendered in the first place,'' said Tampa, who handpicked Sykes as his successor.
Sykes ran against Elder Martin Rainey, 79, outreach minister for Faith Memorial Missionary Baptist Church and a former educator. He disagreed with the suspension of the vote. "The election could have gone forward and we didn't need all of this drama to cause division within the community about what is happening in the NAACP,'' Rainey said.
He blamed Sami Scott, chairwoman of the branch's election committee, whose e-mails prompted the national office to call off the Nov. 16 vote. "I have a problem with one person causing all this emotional uproar,'' he said.
Scott is unapologetic and said the national office didn't do its job.
"Even during the election, there were still challenges as a result of bookkeeping issues, regarding the membership roster,'' she said.
Adora Obi Nweze, NAACP state president and member of the national board of directors who came to St. Petersburg to supervise the election, declined to be interviewed. "This is an internal process and it is not an election to be played out in the press,'' she said. "Any concerns anybody has, we have an internal process that they can follow.''
Waveney Ann Moore can be reached at wmoore@sptimes.com or (727) 892-2283.